Location

Description

The Ridge offers a very relaxed & homely atmosphere with Maralyn preparing great food for our informal dinners. Set high on a ridge with panoramic views over 100s of acres of natural bush and out to sea, The Ridge is just 30 minutes north of Auckland City in the historic village of Puhoi which is part of the Matakana Coast Wine Country, vineyards, beaches, galleries, markets, museums we have lots for you to do.

TripAdvisor Reviews The Ridge Luxury Country Lodge Puhoi

Travel Blogs from Puhoi

... so maybe better to just leave it at that?! So today's wandering about and the pics here - are sort of a 'farewell' ( final??) to Auckland. Or maybe it's just an excuse to post some more pics?! Tomorrow we spend the day in the Bay of Islands ..approx 140 miles? north ...another emotional 'tug' before leaving ...

... but we weren't complaining as it kept us cool from the what seemed endless heat! After getting a few swims in we plodded into town to scout a bar with wifi to catch up with the real world and do some planning for the South Island, our day to day planning is pretty relaxed at the moment. We at least booked our car for the 16 days which we had done the math and was by far the cheapest option rather than a camper. Even if it was the super saver ...

... from Maori history, to various wars, to natural history, to volcanoes. There was also an exhibition on wearable art - check out that hedgehog bra. Lotte liked the kid friendly Weird and Wonderful display, seeing a rat up close, as well as crickets and locusts and fish and eels... Altogether an enjoyable afternoon, which of course had to be closed with an ice cream at the Movenpick cafe - we can confirm that Lotte still loves ...

... we would be heading back to the UK. Arriving at Auckland airport, we were greeted with freezing wind and rain in the first few minutes. This wasn't what we signed up for! Anya looked furious. From then on though we have been drenched in sun and already we have quickly slipped into the lifestyle here - very easy going and pretty quiet. Things are looking good. There's a big cafe culture here too to please Anya. But of course, we need jobs in order to ...

... about for quite a bit of the morning, having a bite to eat and then heading back. I decided I knew a shortcut, and it wasn't a shortcut, so we drove in a few circles before finding our way back... By this time it was about half past one in the afternoon and a few folks had already arrived, so we got ourselves sat down in the sun with a glass of white and got chatting - it was really nice to meet people, and cool to hear from people who've moved here in the last few ...